Liberia

News about Liberia, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Feb. 23, 2015

Liberia lifts its curfew but its border with Sierra Leone remains closed, due to Ebola fears; outbreak has diminished, with only a few cases reported in recent weeks. MORE

Feb. 2, 2015

Clinical drug trial in Liberia to treat Ebola virus is stopped due to big decline in number of people infected; drug developer Chimerix drops out of study; studies of other potential treatments in West Africa are also having trouble finding patients. MORE

Feb. 1, 2015

Residents of Monrovia, Liberia, are slowly returning their focus to the business of living after deadliest Ebola outbreak in history; looking back on disease's progress, experts are surprised by how quickly it appears to be extinguishing itself, which they attribute in large part to changes in habits of citizens, like avoiding bodily contact. MORE

Dec. 31, 2014

Sierra Leone Journal; Ebola outbreak in West African countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia continues to affect all forms of business; efforts to check progress of disease are proving costly and it remains unclear how and when countries' economies will bounce back; in Freetown, Sierra Leone, damage the outbreak has wrought on local businesses is particularly apparent. MORE

Dec. 30, 2014

Ebola epidemic in Africa, which has caused 7,800 deaths since it began, appeared to be drawing to close in spring of 2014 and may have been brought to halt then, were it not for series of response missteps and complicating factors; doctors and experts failed to adequately track disease and to appreciate that 2014 outbreak would differ from previous strains in catastrophic ways; in addition, lack of infrastructure and resources, local distrust of government and movement of tribal people across borders contributed to disease's spread. MORE

Dec. 23, 2014

Provisional results show that former soccer star George Weah has won landslide victory in Senate race in Liberia; had been running against the president’s son, Robert Sirleaf. MORE

Dec. 21, 2014

Family and lawyer of Joseph Hunter, former Army sergeant accused of being contract killer and conspiring to kill federal agent and informant in Liberia, contend that Hunter was entrapped; say his former boss, arms dealer Paul Le Roux, led authorities to Hunter in attempt to get lighter sentence after his own arrest; Hunter was arrested in 2013 and faces life in prison. MORE

Dec. 21, 2014

Few Liberians turn out to vote in Senate elections that were delayed by Ebola outbreak; special precautions are taken at polling places to minimize risk of voters contracting the disease, which has claimed lives of more than 3,200 people in Liberia alone. MORE

Dec. 19, 2014

Liberia will finally hold Senate elections delayed because of Ebola epidemic, legal challenges and ban on large political gatherings; elections must be held, otherwise the nine-year terms of half the members in 30-seat Senate will expire with no successors. MORE

Dec. 18, 2014

World Food Program and Food and Agriculture Organization reports Ebola outbreak in West Africa could double people facing hunger in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, to more than one million, by March. MORE

Dec. 17, 2014

United Nations Sec Gen Ban Ki-moon is set to announce his visit to Ebola-stricken countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone; virus has tested Ban's leadership, as organization has been accused of inadequate response to the outbreak. MORE

Dec. 14, 2014

United Nations Children's Fund says there may be 10,000 orphans who have lost parents to Ebola virus in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, many of whom are stigmatized or shunned by their own communities; extended families have been reluctant to absorb children from Ebola-stricken households because of worries that these children may be carriers and might sicken their own. MORE

Dec. 9, 2014

World Health Organization reports steep declines in malaria cases and deaths compared with 2000, but says it could worsen again in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, where public health systems have been overwhelmed by Ebola virus. MORE

Dec. 8, 2014

Anger builds over decree by Liberian Pres Ellen Johnson Sirleaf banning all political rallies in Monrovia in attempt to prevent further spread of Ebola; critics allege that true motive was to promote victory for Sirleaf's son Robert in hotly contested Senate race. MORE

Dec. 5, 2014

Liberian Pres Ellen Johnson Sirleaf prohibits all rallies and other mass gatherings before scheduled senatorial election, insisting that they risk increasing spread of Ebola outbreak; order comes as country is making progress in slowing disease. MORE

Dec. 3, 2014

Doctors Without Borders warns slow and uneven international response to Ebola crisis in West Africa could lead to further setbacks; group's international president Dr Joanne Liu acknowledges outpouring of help but says most of the work has fallen to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra, poor countries at heart of outbreak; concerns are in contrast to more optimistic appraisal by World Health Organization. MORE

Nov. 28, 2014

Ebola virus continues to rage in Sierra Leone, despite big international aid effort, with more than 1,800 new cases reported in November; citizens, faced with slow response times, are taking matters into their own hands, creating dangerous situation by monitoring sick themselves in makeshift isolation centers; health officials say progress is being made in neighboring Liberia. MORE

Nov. 27, 2014

World Health Organization warns that Sierra Leone is set to eclipse Liberia as worst-hit of West African nations ravaged by Ebola; reports 600 new cases in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea in past week, suggesting that countries will miss December target for achieving important progress benchmarks. MORE

Nov. 21, 2014

Dr Thomas R Frieden, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director, reports good progress in fighting Ebola in Nigeria thanks to international and local efforts; suggests that international aid could similarly reduce infections in hard-hit countries of Guinea and Sierra Leone, where current infection rate is uncertain. MORE

Nov. 14, 2014

Seven members of the extended Doryen family in Monrovia, Liberia, tenacious survivors of country's 14-year civil war, have died in matter of months from the Ebola virus; destruction of families is central tragedy of deadliest Ebola outbreak in history, and effects on region could be long-term and far-reaching. MORE

Nov. 13, 2014

American and Liberian officials, noting slowed rate of Ebola infections in Liberia, are debating whether to build all 17 planned Ebola treatment centers there or to shift money from Obama administration into other programs to combat future outbreaks. MORE

Nov. 10, 2014

Doctors in Liberia are perturbed by divergent paths of Ebola patients whose cases appear similar at first but can have opposite outcomes; study published in journal Emerging Infectious Diseases shows that children who survived previous outbreak tended to have higher blood levels of immune system activators, while those who died had higher levels of substances that indicated dysfunction of cells lining blood vessels (Series: The Ebola Ward). MORE

Nov. 6, 2014

Dedicated field hospital for health workers is scheduled to open outside of Monrovia, Liberia, as part of effort to encourage international medical workers to come and help fight Ebola; hospital is meant to assure health care providers that they will be cared for if they fall ill. MORE

Oct. 31, 2014

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, as first elected leader after devastating civil war, has pushed the country to economic growth, but gains have been halted by the Ebola outbreak; she is Nobel Peace Prize winner and arguably most recognized African leader, but Ebola threatens to derail that legacy. MORE

Oct. 31, 2014

New York Gov Andrew M Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announce they will offer employee protection and financial guarantees for health care workers joining fight against Ebola outbreak in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. MORE

Oct. 30, 2014

World Health Organization, three months after declaring West Africa's Ebola epidemic a global emergency, says new infections in Liberia appear to be declining; warms against complacency in international efforts to fight the disease. MORE

Oct. 29, 2014

Ebola treatment centers in Liberia are seeing fewer patients and more empty beds, raising question of whether disease is abating or whether it continues to rage out of public eye; experts, unable to explain why numbers of patients, and percentage of people testing positive for disease are dropping, say it is too early to celebrate; there is near universal hesitance to call outbreak under control. MORE

Oct. 28, 2014

Health workers in Liberia and elsewhere in West Africa are rationing care due to limited time they can spend in Ebola wards, risk of certain procedures and the amount of medicines available; nurses and doctors have had to improvise as they work under constraints they often find frustrating (Series: The Ebola Ward). MORE

Oct. 24, 2014

Federal officials and pharmaceutical companies are planning to start two large clinical trials of Ebola vaccines in West African countries devastated by the outbreak; trials will run separately, one in Liberia, the other in Sierra Leone, and involve different designs to ensure at least one produces usable information. MORE

Oct. 24, 2014

Editorial supports new 21-day monitoring rules to be placed on travelers coming in to the United States from Ebola-affected countries Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone; contends measures are more effective than a harmful ban on travelers who have been in those countries since ban would include volunteers who have been battling the epidemic, and discourage more from joining the fight. MORE

Oct. 23, 2014

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention place restrictions on travelers from West African countries Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, which all have Ebola outbreaks; new federal regulations require travelers to check in with state or local health departments and report morning and evening temperatures for three weeks, along with any other potential symptoms of the disease. MORE

Oct. 22, 2014

Obama administration announces that passengers arriving to the United States from Ebola-affected countries, such as Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, in West Africa must enter through one of five selected airports that are screening for the disease. MORE

Oct. 22, 2014

Ebola outbreak is wiping out small gains made over past decade in war-scarred parts of West Africa, as schools shut down, immunization campaigns are suspended, and farmers abandon their fields; crisis is threatening hard-won stability in Guinea, Libera and Sierra Leone, as tensions simmer. MORE

Oct. 21, 2014

Op-Ed article by nurse Karin Huster says Liberia's impassable roads, especially in the rainy season, are deadly traps of mud, thwarting diagnosis and treatment of Ebola patients; contends best possible solution is to build more easily accessible treatment centers, where patients can be housed and treated without needing to be transported. MORE

Oct. 20, 2014

Helene Cooper Reporter's Notebook column describes experience returning to her native country of Liberia in order to report on the Ebola epidemic; holds that Liberians are facing outbreak with a stoicism and resilience that emerged during 14 years of horrific civil war. MORE

Oct. 19, 2014

Family and friends gather at North Carolina church for funeral service of Thomas Eric Duncan, Liberian man who was the first person to die of Ebola in the United States. MORE

Oct. 17, 2014

Dr Steven Hatch, an American volunteer at new clinic in Liberia, run by the charity International Medical Corps, is learning ways of the Ebola ward; much of West Africa follows no-hands rule to avoid contagion, but doctors and nurses here, protected by layers of plastic and rubber armor, routinely touch the sick, offering medications and simple comforts (Series: The Ebola Ward). MORE

Oct. 17, 2014

Only about 15 ambulance teams are available to aid Monrovia, Liberia, city of nearly 1.5 million people, where hundreds of new Ebola cases are reported each week, with many more never accounted for; to confront spread of virus, some community groups have stepped in, motivated by altruism, desperation and, in some cases, political opportunism. MORE

Oct. 12, 2014

Liberian Army has suddenly become linchpin in fight against Ebola virus rampaging the country; for decades, Liberians viewed the armed forces with fear due to atrocities committed during civil war. MORE

Oct. 12, 2014

Reporter's Notebook; Times reporter Helene Cooper describes experience of undergoing enhanced airport security measures intended to curb Ebola transmission during trip back to United States from Liberia. MORE

Oct. 10, 2014

Health workers at International Medical Corps treatment center in Liberia face dilemma of how to care for newborn whose mother may have died of Ebola; many health workers have contracted Ebola while attending to births and being exposed to blood and other body fluids, provoking fears of providing maternity care; doctors speculate that Ebola can be transmitted from mother to baby (Series: The Ebola Ward). MORE

Oct. 10, 2014

Presidents of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, nations most affected by the Ebola outbreak, implore world leaders to increase their support to fight the disease; speak at meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Washington. MORE

Oct. 9, 2014

Thomas Eric Duncan dies of Ebola in Dallas, renewing questions about whether delay in receiving treatment could have played a role in his death and what part it played in the possibility of his spreading the disease to others; it remains unclear why, and how, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital did not initially view the Liberian man as a potential Ebola case; nearly 50 people who came into contact with Duncan when he was experiencing active symptoms are being monitored. MORE

Oct. 9, 2014

Federal health officials will require temperature checks for the first time at five major American airports for people arriving from three West African countries hardest hit by Ebola epidemic; however, health experts say measures are more likely to calm worried public than to prevent people with Ebola from entering country; move comes after death of Thomas Eric Duncan, Liberian man who was the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States. MORE

Oct. 8, 2014

Schedule for a single day at newly opened Ebola treatment center in Suakoko, Liberia, run by International Medical Corps charity, offers portrait of efforts to halt spread of virus; center is both ordinary and otherwordly, where health workers tend to those infected and those quarantined while awaiting test results (Series: The Ebola Ward). MORE

Oct. 7, 2014

Pres Obama says screening for Ebola virus at airports both in the United States and West Africa will increase, but does not offer specifics; Dallas residents remain on edge as they await to learn if those who came into contact with Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan became infected. MORE

Oct. 6, 2014

Thomas Eric Duncan, man fighting for his life in Dallas hospital, inadvertently brought Ebola virus to United States from Liberia as he arrived for reunion with Louise Troh, mother of his son; estranged couple met in 1990s in an Ivory Coast refugee camp as they fled murderous civil war that terrorized Liberia from 1989 to 2003; joyful reunion was cut short as it devolved into a national health scare. MORE

Oct. 6, 2014

Church congregations in Clifton, a section of Staten Island with a large Liberian population, are coming together with donations and prayers for loved ones in West Africa struggling to survive the Ebola epidemic. MORE

There are no additional abstracts to display.

General Information on Liberia

Official Name: Republic of Liberia
Capital: Monrovia (Current local time)
Government Type: Republic
Population: 3.196 million
Area: 43,000 square miles; slightly larger than Ohio
Languages: English (official), some 20 ethnic group languages
GDP Per Capita: $900
Year of Independence: 1847

{"type":"article","show_header_text":false,"header":"Articles","query":"","search_query":"(glocations.contains:\"Liberia\" OR glocations.contains:\"\\(Liberia\\)\") AND -type_of_material:\"Editorial\" AND -type_of_material:\"Correction\" AND -type_of_material:\"Obituary\" AND -type_of_material:\"paid death notice\" AND -headline:\"paid notice\" AND -type_of_material:\"Caption\" AND -type_of_material:\"Summary\" AND -type_of_material:\"Schedule\" AND -type_of_material:\"Letter\" AND -news_desk:\"Travel\" AND -news_desk:\"Escapes\" AND -news_desk:\"Dining\" AND -news_desk:\"Fashion\" AND -news_desk:\"Fashions\" AND -news_desk:\"Style\" AND -news_desk:\"Styles\" AND -news_desk:\"Society\" AND -news_desk:\"Home\" AND -news_desk:\"Home\/Style\" AND -news_desk:\"Living\" AND -news_desk:\"Beauty\" AND -news_desk:\"Design\" AND -news_desk:\"Theater\" AND -subject:\"Theater\" AND -news_desk:\"Movies\" AND -subject:\"Motion Pictures\" AND -subject:\"Movies\" AND -news_desk:\"Great Homes and Destinations\"","num_search_articles":"15","show_summary":true,"show_byline":true,"show_pub_date":true,"hide_thumbnails":false,"show_kicker":false,"show_title":false,"show_related_topics":true,"show_rad_links":true,"show_subtopics":true,"exclude_topics":"LIBERIA","exclude":[""],"more_on_header":"MORE ON LIBERIA AND:","alternate_index_subidx":"","show_thumbnails":true}

February 23, 2015, Monday

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies reported Thursday that its burial teams in Guinea have been attacked verbally or physically 10 times a month on average since March.